Steve Madden Announces Acquisition of Schwartz & Benjamin

January 30, 2017 04:05 PM Eastern Standard Time

LONG ISLAND CITY, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Steve Madden (Nasdaq:SHOO), a leading designer and marketer of fashion
footwear and accessories for women, men and children, today announced
that it has completed the acquisition of the privately held Schwartz &
Benjamin, Inc. family of companies (“Schwartz & Benjamin”), which
specialize in the design, sourcing and sale of licensed and private
label footwear. Founded in 1923, Schwartz & Benjamin distributes its
fashion footwear to wholesale customers, including better department
stores and specialty boutiques, as well as the retail stores of its
brand partners. Schwartz & Benjamin’s current brand partners include
Kate Spade, Rebecca Minkoff, Alice + Olivia and Avec Les Filles.
Schwartz & Benjamin also designs and sources private label footwear for
various retailers. Schwartz & Benjamin’s trailing twelve month net sales
as of December 31, 2016 were approximately $87.6 million (unaudited).

The acquisition was completed for cash at closing plus an earn-out
provision based on financial performance through January 31, 2023. The
transaction is expected to be approximately neutral to EPS (excluding
one-time transaction and integration costs) in fiscal 2017 and to be
accretive thereafter.

Edward Rosenfeld, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented, “We
are very pleased to complete the acquisition of Schwartz & Benjamin, a
company known for its outstanding capability in designer and accessible
luxury footwear. We see opportunity to expand the business by combining
Schwartz & Benjamin’s strengths – which include premier execution in the
design and sourcing of high-quality footwear as well as a strong
portfolio of brand partners – with our proven business model and
infrastructure. We are particularly pleased that Chief Executive Officer
Danny Schwartz, Chief Creative Officer Barbara Schwartz and President
and Chief Operating Officer Steve Shapiro will remain with Schwartz &
Benjamin and continue to lead the business into its next phase of
growth.”

Danny Schwartz, Chief Executive Officer of Schwartz & Benjamin, added,
“We at Schwartz & Benjamin are excited to be joining forces with Steve
Madden. We are proud of our 93-year history of creating footwear that
satisfies the needs of our brand partners, wholesale clients and
consumers, and we look forward to continuing to do so for many years to
come with the added support and resources of Steve Madden. Barbara and I
are pleased that Schwartz & Benjamin will operate as a stand-alone
business with its current management team and employees, resulting in
the transaction being seamless to our valued clients and business
partners. Schwartz & Benjamin has tremendous opportunity for growth, and
we look forward to working with Steve Madden to help the company reach
its potential.”

About Steve Madden

Steve Madden designs, sources and markets fashion-forward footwear and
accessories for women, men and children. In addition to marketing
products under its own brands including Steve
Madden®, Dolce
Vita®, Betsey
Johnson®, Report®,
Big
Buddha®, Brian
Atwood®, Cejon®,
Blondo®
and Mad
Love®, Steve Madden is the licensee of various brands, including Superga®
for footwear in North America. Steve Madden also designs and sources
products under private label brand names for various retailers. Steve
Madden's wholesale distribution includes department stores, specialty
stores, luxury retailers, national chains and mass merchants. Steve
Madden also operates 186 retail stores (including Steve Madden's four
Internet stores). Steve Madden licenses certain of its brands to third
parties for the marketing and sale of certain products, including for
ready-to-wear, outerwear, intimate apparel, hosiery, jewelry, luggage
and bedding and bath products. For local store information and the
latest Steve Madden booties, pumps, men’s and women’s boots, dress
shoes, sandals and more, visit http://www.stevemadden.com/.

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events described in forward looking statements may not occur. Generally,
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